When Rosenberg and Jeanne Donner sit in silence for a while, he hears:
"...the wind whistling and piping far up the canyon." (XII, p. 110)
Yet again the wind underlines and emphasizes a human interaction, in this case silence.
When Rosenberg mentions that notions of privacy were untenable in Martian living conditions, she replies that such notions are recent on Earth and that they:
"'Go back to the Years of Madness, when there was so much eccentricity of all kinds, a lot of it illegal.'" (p. 111)
Another hint about that elusive and allusive period.
Jeanne discloses that her husband's double, Naysmith:
"'...stayed here overnight -'
"A slow flush crept up her cheeks and she looked away." (ibid.)
If they had sex, then legally that was rape. She had consented to sex with her husband who he was not.
17 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That surprises me--because I thought consensual sex by an adult man and woman (both of sound minds) would not be any kind of rape.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The essence of rape is lack of consent, not force, although the latter is often involved. The woman, and indeed the man, has to consent to sex with a particular person. Impersonating a woman's husband is rape. This can be done in the dark, by disguise, when she is drugged etc. If a man at a party entices a woman into a darkened bedroom, says, "I'll be back in a minute," and goes out and then his friend goes in, that is rape because the woman had consented (at most) to sex only with the first man.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Got it, that makes sense. I don't think I ever knew that particular nuance of the laws of rape.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I was a University Law student for one year. Some of what I heard stuck.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And Stirling was a lawyer for a few years. I'm sure he still recalls a fair bit about the law.
Ad astra! Sean
Like John Grisham.
Kaor, Paul!
Or John Grisham, I should have remembered him.
Ad astra! Sean
Yeah, false pretences/deception as to identity qualifies.
So in principle that is a way a woman could rape a man.
Jim,
Certainly. In THE KING OF YS, Gratillonius' daughter tries to rape him.
Paul.
Note that false ID is rare. That's because it's difficult.
Kaor, Jim!
Besides what Paul and Stirling said, there is another way a woman can be a rapist. It can happen that a school teacher can seduce boys as young as 13. And that too is rape.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: technically, yeah, it is. I've never thought that was entirely fair. Remembering what I was like at 13, I would have gone down on my knees and given thanks if a female teacher had tried that. Boys are different that way.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Part of me agrees while the other part thinks 13 is far too young for a boy to have sex.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
A few more points: a teacher is older and in a position of authority over her students. It would be an abuse of power for her to seduce boys as young as 13.
Ad astra! Sean
Male sexual desire peaks in the decad after puberty; female desire peaks in the decade before menopause, both for obvious evolutionary reasons. As the old saying goes, a teenage boy gets excited while crunching salted ice and thinking about bad things.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha, ha!!! True.
Ad astra! Sean
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